Senate votes to combine offices of treasurer, comptroller

Thursday

Mar 31, 2011 at 12:01 AMMar 31, 2011 at 4:49 PM

SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Senate voted unanimously Thursday to eliminate the offices of state treasurer and comptroller office in favor of a single constitutional office -- comptroller of the treasury.

CHRIS WETTERICH

SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Senate voted unanimously Thursday to eliminate the offices of state treasurer and comptroller office in favor of a single constitutional office -- comptroller of the treasury.

The proposed constitutional amendment now goes to the House, where it must receive a three-fifths majority to pass. If it passes there, it will be on the ballot for voters to decide upon in the November 2012 election.

If voters also approve the idea, the new office would be elected during the 2014 election year.

There was little debate on the measure, which was sponsored by state Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, and has been estimated to save the state $12 million annually. Both Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka and Treasurer Dan Rutherford, who are Republicans, support consolidating the offices.

"The value of this goes beyond that $12 million," said Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine. "We send a message to the people of this state that we are willing to participate in rolling back spending."

The two offices have long been stepping stones for politicians aiming for higher office. But Rutherford brushed off that as a reason to keep the current system in place.

“If you look back on the 40 years since the (1970) constitutional convention changed this, there’s only been three Republicans that have held these offices ... Judy Baar Topinka, Loleta Didrickson and Dan Rutherford. I don’t think it’ll hurt the Republicans.”

The bill’s fate is uncertain in the House, where Speaker Michael Madigan has concerns, Rutherford said.

“We intend to work with him and see what we can do,” Rutherford said. “What I ask is (that) we put it up for a vote and if three-fifths pass it, we move on. If we don’t, then we’ve made our effort.”

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the speaker’s concerns center around the fact that “there was a lot of debate in the constitutional convention about having the two constitutional offices.”

“This is an idea that’s been around time after time after time,” Brown said. “We’ll take a look at it and go forward.”

Rutherford said he’ll make the case that times have changed since 1970, when the constitution was drafted. Technology is more advanced, removing the necessity of having two fiscal officers, and there is an added layer of oversight, he said.

“Before the 1970 constitution convention, we did not have an auditor general. Now we have an auditor general that audits the state’s books apart from the comptroller and the treasurer,” Rutherford said.

Chris Wetterich can be reached at (217) 788-1523.

What the officers do

The comptroller’s main job is to manage the state’s funds and write checks to cover state expenses. The treasurer’s role is to invest the state’s money.